494 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : 20 cm

Traces the development of primitive societies showing why some groups advanced more rapidly than others and how this progression explains why various populations stabilize at specific phases of development while others continue to evolve

Includes bibliographical references (pages 429-457) and index

The regionally differing courses of history -- What happened on all the continents before 11,000 BC -- How geography molded societies on Polynesian islands -- Why the Inca emperor Atahuallpa did not capture King Charles I of Spain -- The roots of guns, germs, and steel -- Geographic differences in the onset of food production -- Causes of the spread of food production -- The unconscious development of ancient crops -- Why did peoples of some regions fail to domesticate plants? -- Why were most big wild mammal species never domesticated? -- Why did food production spread at different rates in different continents? -- The evolution of germs -- The evolution of writing -- The evolution of technology -- The evolution of government and religion -- The histories of Australia and New Guinea -- The history of East Asia -- The history of the Austronesian expansion -- The history of Eurasia and the Americas compared -- The history of Africa

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